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Topic: The AHA and Homebrew Competitions (Read 6896 times)

You guys also need to keep in mind that judges tend to be in short supply. I do remember that my club is always looking for judges to staff the big competition we run. To my knowledge Judges don't get paid to judge competitions.

You guys also need to keep in mind that judges tend to be in short supply. I do remember that my club is always looking for judges to staff the big competition we run. To my knowledge Judges don't get paid to judge competitions.

Kai

I think you are right Kai. Experienced judges seem to be the hardest to find, at least in my experiences.

Quite the opposite. When I go judge somewhere, it costs me money to pay my own expenses. I do it becasue I enjoy it and enjoy helping people out by judging their beer.

While there is an entry fee, people entering competitions need to keep in mind that this doesn't pay the judges and that judges invest their own time and money to judge your beer.

If someone constantly dislikes the results from competitions I suggest to that brewer to become a BJCP judge himself/herself. This way he/she can train his/her own palate and learn how competitions work. I for myself would go that route if I had the time to spend on this. But because I don't I don't enter comps and am not a certified judge.

... I also recognize that judges need to learn how to be good judges, so I always take poor scoresheets with a grain of salt (except for the one I got from a National judge that had less than 10 words on the whole page... I keep meaning to frame that one).

Poor score sheets for the rank should be brought to the attention of the Competition Organizer and the Competition Director of the BJCP. I know that on theBJCP level, the judge will likely get contacted to give a response.

There are a few senior judges (myself included) that stress that the description of the beer is the most important aspect. I have yet to find an informative score sheet that didn't just describe the beer in the glass BEFORE relating it to style or calling out flaws. Or, to restate it, the best judges simply describe the beer in front of them.

It is a slow change, though. I takes informative feedback on exams and constant reminders at the local level to change peoples' habits. I have framed an exam cover page where the person stated a purpose of the BJCP is to "promote beer illiteracy." It's a steep hill, I'm afraid.

Still, every year I seem to say that beers are "better than ever" in competition because of the improved quality of ingredients and the incredibly detailed and comprehensive brewing information that is available. So, yes, I think the brewer skills have evolved farther than many judges.

I used to enter competitions until about 5-6 years ago when I gave them up for the reasons that Drew mentioned....I, too, am too lazy to bottle anything anymore. Plus, when a couple of my bottles broke and my name was placed on UPS's and FedEx's MOST WANTED lists....the illegal shipping part of the competition process I really don't care about. (I do greatly appreciate the AHA's efforts to make shipping beer legal).

That said, I did enjoy entering competitions when I did....especially when I was starting out back in the 1990s, the feedback was great.

I frequently fail to enter competitions because I will drink down the keg before I have a chance to bottle any of the beers... I am working on always bottling 3-6 when I like a beer a lot, though, and expect to enter a bunch in 2011. Recently I entered a comp (NCHC) to see what went wrong with one of my beers. I just wasn't sure if it was a yeast issue, an ingredient issue, some kind of infection, or an issue with storage... I just didn't know why I didn't like that beer. And then neither of the judges were BJCP certified and neither wrote anything coherent or constructive about the beer. One guy noted "extreme hopping" (the OG was 1.085 with about 35 IBUs), the other judge noted "rye spice" (there was no rye). I guess that it is hard to get enough good, experienced judges to meet the demand. I know I wish I had the time to get certified and help the cause...

Sorry for the n00b question, but how do you bottle beer that's in a keg? Pour a pint into a bottle and add priming sugar? This is relevant to my interests because I like the idea of putting some bottles aside as aging experiments.

Sorry for the n00b question, but how do you bottle beer that's in a keg? Pour a pint into a bottle and add priming sugar? This is relevant to my interests because I like the idea of putting some bottles aside as aging experiments.

Get the bottles cold, turn the pressure down and slowly fill the bottles, then cap on foam. You can fit a plastic bottling "wand" right into the end of a picnic tap for this or you can get all fancy pants and buy a beer gun from Blichman. I love mine.

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Jeff Gladish, Tampa (989.3, 175.1 Apparent Rennarian)Homebrewing since 1990AHA member since 1991, now a lifetime member BJCP judge since 1995

Sorry for the n00b question, but how do you bottle beer that's in a keg? Pour a pint into a bottle and add priming sugar? This is relevant to my interests because I like the idea of putting some bottles aside as aging experiments.

Get the bottles cold, turn the pressure down and slowly fill the bottles, then cap on foam. You can fit a plastic bottling "wand" right into the end of a picnic tap for this or you can get all fancy pants and buy a beer gun from Blichman. I love mine.

In addition to Jeff's advice, you can put a #2 drilled stopper on the bottleing wand, and it fills the bottle neck, which will build pressure as you fill. You will need to "burp" the bottle when the flow slows. This keeps excessive foaming down. Right at the end you can tap the bottle to cause foam in the neck, or squirt a little beer into the bottle to cause enough foam to cap on. If you have a CO2 tank set up, you can also add CO2 to the bottle to displace the air when you start.

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Jeff RankertAnn Arbor Brewers GuildAHA Governing Committee BJCP NationalHome-brewing, not just a hobby, it is a lifestyle!